The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1887-02-18
THE CONSULAR BUREAU.
nome Chapters Of Mystery From the State
Departments at Washington.

A correspondent writing from wash
ington to the Pittsburg Leader sage few
would imagine that there was anything
under the roof of the State Department
that could excite the softer emotions of
humanity.
One of it's branches is commonly
associated with awesome international
secrets, diplomatic dignity and prlmeval
silence; the other with consular reports
and monotonous mercantile transac-
tions.
But in the room of DR.. St Clair,
chief of Consular Bureau, there is @
cabinet the contents of which suggest
tears and sorrow, deaths in strange
lands, mans waywardness and wOmans
devotion. The collection is simply that
of the effects, trinkets and papers of
American citizens who have died abroad,
their abode and relatives in this country
being unknown.
The United States consuls send these
records to the Consular Bureau. It
institutes searches for heirs or friends
of the mysterious deceased.
Some curious cases have been devel-
oped in the endeavor to establish the
identity of Americans who have died st
consular stations without removing the
veil of mystery enveloping their past
careers.
Some years ago Mark Hamilton died
at Nice, France. He had lived there in
the opulence of q retired life, IN ques-
tionable intimacy with q woman. His
name was presumed to be an alias.
After his demise and the usual effort
had been made to trace his heirs, the
public administrator of New York came
to the State Department and demanded
effects which the Nicene consul had
sent over.
The gold coin, gold watch and per-
sonal papers were turned over to him
after proper authentication of his official
position. Ho had himself secured III
New York city 9l2, 900 belonging to the
estate of Mark Hamilton.
Afterward letters came from persons
in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio claim
ing kinship with him. They were all
transmitted to the public administra
tor.
Here was . man whose papers dis
closed the fact that he had extensive
stock dealings with brokers in New
York, Chicago and St Louis. He Lad
even had his orders for the purchase of
SO. 600 worth Of stocks houored, and
yet his death had been complete eI-
tinguishment of self, either as q memory
or an ever existent fact.
1t is not known whether any distribu-
asserted heirship.
In one corner of this cabinetis a small
package, which comprehends the entire
estate, "devised and residuary," of S.
Sanders, alias Isaac Landers, of the
British ship Robert Pearce.
This seaman died at Havana in 1881.
In the Package are S25, a Testament and
some letters. Upon the f1y leaf Of the
Testament is written: Presented to
Isaac Landcrs to commemorate q solemn
vow-Hattie."
Who could not guess that that vow
was abstinence from grOC?
The letters are from his sister, Hattie
Landers, who wri..s from Bradford
street. Lawrence, Mass, and also from
Boston And yet she has never been
found by advertisement.
In the common wooden box are some
of the estates " of unknown Americans
who died at Shanghai.
The handwriting upon most of the
packages is that of Burg Rawie Lewis,
whose Igic fate was as sad as that of
these fellOw-countrym whom in death
he sought to befriend
Lewis was summoned to this city
from China as a witness in the George
T. Seward investigation. When he was
sent back he was penniless.
Though the orders were explicit for
his reinstatement it was delayed. Fin
ally poor Lewis was restored to his
place, but the debts contracted during
enforced idleness SO preycd upon his
mind that he ended an oppressive life
by bullet in his brain.
In this box Is an ordinary black mus
Uncovered portfolio. In it is an envcl-
Ope with no enclosure.
Upon it is written in a plain, bold
hand, suggesting high intelligence:
"AIy mothers address is Mrs. Nathan
iel Ruggles, care of Mrs. l.. j. TAYLOR,
Evanston, Cook county, Illinois. I
leave this so that should sudden acci-
lent overtake me some kind soul may
write my mother"
The writer of this pathetic mcmoran-
dunn was Jonathan Ruggles, who died
at Shanghai, Dec. 10, 1869 Sixteen
years have passed; year 3, may be, of
alternate hope and despair in a mothers
breast brooding over a sons wayward-
ness.
In pasteboard box are some trinkets
that indicate feminine ownership. A
velvet case encloses the daguerreotype
of a man whose features suggest the
Hbertine.
This was what Leonora Williams left
when depraved life ended at Shanghai.
There are more of these personal eff
fects of wanderers and fugitives. They
are not relics of the saints, rather SOU
venirs of mysterious sinners.
When the work of tracing personal
histories is begun by the Department
off icials it proceeds almost invariably
through details of liaisons, aliases,
flights from justice, dispositions to
roam, and all the shadows that fall upon
human life.
One OF the oldest of MorfaIs